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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

When writing, I tend to get bored and can't spend more than half an hour sitting and writing. So, this novel I'm planning on finishing is going to take longer than I expected. I'd hoped to be finished by March. Now, that just seems unrealistic.

But maybe that's all for the best. After all, I'm not even in college yet. Maybe this trilogy I'm planning to write isn't meant to be, and I'll find a greater plot to develop.

For awhile, I wanted to get published before I finished school. I realize that I'm not experienced enough and my writing doesn't even compare to, say, J.K. Rowling's or Suzanne Collin's or even J.R.R. Tolkien's. They all went through much struggle to get their books published. It took a lot of rejections, tears, and sheer determination to be where they were (or are) today.

Perhaps I need to study a little longer and do a little more writing before I get published. Perhaps I need to gain more confidence, show my writing to the world, and learn to accept criticism (which I struggle with greatly). I'm not perfect. In fact, no one is, but I can work on my weaknesses.

Patience is a virtue. And I need to learn it. Nothing happens immediately, everything takes time. "To everything there is a season" as the saying goes.

I also need to learn how to take rejection and, when I'm rejected, not to give up. Not everyone is going to like my work and that's OK. People have different views and opinions and I need to learn to respect that.

So, all in all, I just need to roll with the punches and take things one day at a time. Every second is a gift and I need to honor that. Even if no one reads my blog, I will continue to write and pour out my heart to who ever will lesson.

(But there is one thing that I will ask of you, will you go, right now, and like my FB page, please? Thanks!)

Inquiry of the Day:

Do you have a blog?

If you do, let me know in the comments and I'll go check it out. I promise.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

When I say spicy crackers, I mean spicy crackers. These babies are HOT!

My
mom decided to get rid of chips for Lent this year, so she asked me to
make some crackers for her. "Mom," I asked. "Aren't those considered
chips?" She said no, so if you ever get rid of chips for Lent, this
should be your go to recipe.

Little dynamite crackers- not to be underestimated!

Even though I'm not
supposed to have spicy foods, I did try a teeny dot of dough and that
was enough to set my taste buds on fire. So be warned, this recipe is
not for the faint of heart.

If you have to call the fire department because you're tongue is on fire, don't blame me. I warned you.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cheese.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together grape seed oil and eggs.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add paprika and cumin. Stir until thoroughly combined.
5.
Divide dough into 2 pieces. Put one piece of dough between two sheets
of parchment paper. Roll out the dough to desired thickness.
6.
Remove top parchment paper and move dough to baking sheet. Cut into
squares of desired size. Do the same with the other half of the dough.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let crackers cool for 30 minutes.

Inquiry of the Day:

Are you a fan of spicy foods?

I most definitely am. I love hot sauce, curry, hot fries, and just about anything spicy. As long as it's not too spicy. My dad cannot have a meal without hot sauce. I swear. He puts it on almost everything.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Meatloaf is a staple in my house. We eat it all
the time.It's great for special occasions, family get-to-togethers, or
just a quick Monday night dinner. (It can be eaten any day of week,
though.) I'm sure it'll become one of your favorite recipes. Except, if
you're a vegetarian, it might not be.

What
am I doing?! I'm stealing the spotlight! The real star is this meatloaf.
Now, meatloaf has gotten a bad rap. I've had some disgusting meatloaf
in my time. But this, just knocks all those imitators out of the water.
Make sure you use good beef or pork. Otherwise, this won't turn out as
good. My grandpa makes his own beef and pork, so we use that. Best meat
ever. You can never go back to plain Jane burgers after you've had his.
(Especially McDonald's burgers. Yuck!) Oh, and make sure you top with BBQ sauce or ketchup. It definitely improves the flavor.

Comfort food :)

So, are you having trouble figuring out what's for dinner? No problem. Make some meatloaf. It's just that good.

If
you have trouble with grains try a different binder for the meatloaf.
Maybe some arrowroot powder, a little almond flour, or another egg even?
I don't know if any of these will work, but let me know how it goes if
you happen to try it.

Inquiry of the Day:

Is meatloaf a comfort food for you?

It certainly is for me. One of the most comforting meals I can think of is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas. Unfortunately, I can't eat red meat right now :*( It's been ages since I've had meatloaf.

Friday, August 24, 2012

I'd gone in for a barium
test a couple weeks ago and the lady who does quantum light therapy for
me said to drink carrot juice with a handful of spinach afterward. She
said this would help counteract the harmful chemicals and dye in the
barium.

Look at that bright red strawberry!

At first, I was like 'Eew! Gross!' And let
me tell you, it took a lot of improvising to get this one right. Lots of
strawberries and lemon were involved to over power the ultra-carroty
taste of the carrot juice.

But, at last, I had
perfected the carrot juice smoothie, and it was actually quite tasty. In
fact, as I write this, I'm sipping on a glass myself.

This is a wonderful detoxifying smoothie and a great way to boost the number of vegetables in your day.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I
scream, you scream, we all scream for BANANA MUFFINS!!!! Okay, I admit,
that needs some touching up. Anyone want to work on that? Seriously, these muffins need their own slogan or something. There are just that good.

I
swear. Ask anyone in my family. They'll tell you these muffins are by
far the best ones you'll ever eat. What am I doing depriving you of
these astounding muffins? Go ahead! Try some for yourself! You know you
want to! ;)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Yes, cashews. And let me tell you, it was one of the best puddings I've ever had. Smooth, creamy, slightly nutty fudgesicles. They're a cinch to make and a guarantee they'll be a hit.

A little pudding PacMan ghost

I was browsing the Gluten Free Fix's site when day, when this particular recipe caught my eye. I made it for my lunch one day and a thought started to brew in the back of mind. What if I froze it? And freeze it I did to make these wonderful vegan fudgesicles!

He likes to smile

If you have a dairy sensitivity I highly recommend these popsicles. They're aren't any fancy ingredients, such as tofu, or agar flakes, or any of that. Nope. Cashews, water, honey, and vanilla. That's all it takes.

I know I did. For a few years I went to piano camp in the afternoon and they offered snacks everyday. One of my favorite days was the ice cream day. I always went for either the Drumstick or the Fudgesicle. I adore waffle cones. Maybe I should make a GF waffle cone recipe. Yeah, that would be good.

Oh, and please don't forget to check out my Facebook page! Which can be found here.

Monday, August 20, 2012

As you probably know (if you're a die-hard Hunger Games fan like me) that The Hunger Games DVD comes out a week from today.

In
honor of the occasion I've made a recipe roundup of all the recipes
associated with the Hunger Games. It seemed extremely appropriate to add
at least two bread recipes, seeing as how Peeta is a baker and all. So
I'm very please with how this post turned out.

I
wasn't expecting to have so many recipes that would fit in with this
theme (seeing as how this blog has only been going for a months), but
low-and-behold, I had 5!

Sorry! No picture for this one. One of Katniss's favorite foods is
Peeta's cheese bread. So why not add one of my own to this recipe
round-up?

With all these recipes you could have a
feast! Pick and choose to make a Hunger Games worthy buffet. I know I'll
definitely be making some of these and enjoying them while I watch the
Hunger Games next Saturday!

For these I give all the credit to one of my favorite food bloggers-
Chocolate Covered Katie! Now, normally I don't like coconut- blech.
Something about the flavor turns me off, I don't know what, though. This
recipe, however, is not too coconuty for my taste. It might be because
the almond and cherries counteract the flavor of the coconut. I'm not
sure.

Look at my pretty picture. The little melties all
wrapped up like little chocolate truffles. How adorable! Now that I
think about it, melties would be a great healthy dessert gift instead of
those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kisses or pretzels with
the hugs and M&Ms pressed on to them. Don't get me wrong, I love
those, but, well, there not extremely healthy. If only someone could
healthify them. Hmmm.......

1. Put the coconut butter in a bowl and stir until smooth.2. Add the almond extract and cherries. Stir until thoroughly combined.3. Evenly distribute the coconut mixture into ice cube trays, candy molds, or wax paper.4. Refrigerate until hard or freeze for a few minutes if your super impatient like I am.5. Enjoy

I
also tried these with peppermint extract. Just as delicious. They were
quite refreshing. I've been thinking about adding cinnamon, orange
extract, lemon extract, or even cocoa powder to them. If you have any
other ideas feel free to share in the comments section. For now, go and
make these melties! :)

P.S. Sorry for the awful pic. I'm working on my photography for taking food.

All the credit must go to Elana Amsterdam. She is a genius for coming up
with this recipe. We absolutely love this recipe. It is one of my
favorite non-chocolate recipes. Well, besides key lime pie, this is one
of my favorites. Which is surprising since I generally don't like spice
cake.

But this cake is moist and tastes like Christmas.

Have you ever had something that tastes like Christmas? It is a very strange sensation, but all the same, something can taste like Christmas. And this dessert proves it.

Yes,
I know. It's nowhere near Christmas, but why not pretend a little? Make
this spice cake and say it tastes like Easter. Of course that would be a
lie. You need an excuse to go and make this awesome spice cake!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8" square baking dish
with grape seed oil or oil of your choice and dust with almond flour.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda,
cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. In a smaller bowl, whisk
together the grape seed oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir the
wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until completely combined.
Fold in the raisins and walnuts. Scoop the batter into the prepared
baking dish. 3. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted
into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the
baking dish for 1 hour, then serve spread with cream cheese or vanilla
frosting.

This has always been one of my favorite winter recipes. Especially when
it's served with homemade bread. It's full of hot vegetables, juicy
beef, and is absolutely one of the best comfort foods on this planet.

A big bowl of comforting stew

If I ever feel the depressing pull of winter, my mom and I make a pot of stew or soup. That warms me right up head to toe.

Recently,
cooking dinner with my mom has been a great bonding experience for us.
Over the course of the past few months, I've really grown close to
her. She's been my comforter, encourager, and helps pull me through the days I feel like I'm really struggling to keep moving.

Great with crackers or homemade bread

With that said, this is one of those meals that is easy to put together and fun to make with a partner. So grab your best friend, family member, or even your roommate and make some stew. ;)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Dissolve bouillon cubes in hot water and set aside.
3. Mix together meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, salt, and pepper.
4. Stir tomato paste into bouillon water, and pour over meat and vegetable mixture. Mix well.
5. Bake covered in a large casserole dish for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Or put in the crock pot on low for 6-7 hours.
6. Serve hot with fresh bread or a salad.

Inquiry of the Day:

How do you cope with your winter funk? Or do you positively love winter?

I normally adore winter time. It's during January and February I feel like I'm just going in circles. But last year we had the most depressing winter. No snow. Just coldness. It's the worst. I'm really hoping for a decent snow this winter. So keep your fingers crossed!

Okay, I promise this'll be the last
muffin recipe for awhile. (That is, unless y'all want more????) But I
swear that these are so one of the best muffins you'll ever eat. In
fact, they're my favorite muffin recipe of all time.

A
week or so ago, my mom bought a ton of fresh peaches and blueberries
from the farmer's market. They blueberries were so good I just knew they
had to be put in a muffin. (I think that baking blueberries brings out
their natural sweetness, which is why I love blueberry muffins so
much.)

So I hope you can forgive me for posting another muffin recipe, but I urge you to try it. Seriously. Go ahead.

Substitution Notes:
Replace the flax eggs with real eggs if you want. The grape seed oil
can be subbed for any other you normally use for baking (i.e. vegetable,
canola, coconut, etc.) and the honey for agave or maple syrup. If you
don't want peaches bump up the blueberries to 1 c. or vice versa.

Inquiry of the Day:

Have you made a trip to the farmer's market yet this year?

Sad to behold, we've only gone twice. I usually love going to the farmer's market, but it always seems to slip my mind........

It tastes like a soft molasses cookie. Except it's healthier than a
cookie. With no sugar, flour, eggs, or butter this will be one of the
healthiest cookies you'll ever eat.

There's just one problem.

It's not a cookie.

What?!?!

Yup,
you heard me. But, yet, it tastes soooooo much like the molasses
cookies Grandma used to make when you were a child. I thought I would
never taste a molasses cookie again. I'm immensely glad I was wrong.

1. Pulverize walnuts, dates, spices, and salt until ground to your liking.2. Add the molasses and syrup. Pulse until thoroughly combined.3. Shape into bars or balls.4. Freeze until firm or skip step 3 and eat it straight out of the food processor!

Makes 2 bars or 6 balls

Substitution Notes:
Sub the walnuts for any other kind of nuts you have on hand. The dates
can be replaced by raisins or even prunes. If you don't have black strap
molasses use any other kind. The maple syrup can be subbed for honey or
agave nectar.

Inquiry of the Day:

Have you ever had a molasses cookie?

When
I was younger we used to make them almost every Christmas. We haven't
made molasses cookies in a long time, though. Sunday, I just happened to
have a hankering for 'em and thought they'd be delicious in Larabar
form.

These muffins were so pretty when they came out of the oven! They had
the most beautiful cracks on the top and smelled wonderful they whole
time they were baking.

Instead of cinnamon apple muffins, I
decided regular cinnamon muffins would be good and they were! I had a
friend over and she loved them, my sister's friend loved them, my mom
and my dad did as well. So, they obviously passed the test.

I
plan to continue exploring with the world of cinnamon, because it is
one of my very favorite spices. I especially love those Pillsbury
cinnamon rolls that come in a tube. Yum. Cinnamon rolls.

2 c. almond flour1/2 tsp. baking soda1/4 tsp. salt1 T. cinnamon2 eggs1/3 c. honey or agave (I used agave for these)1/4 c. grape seed oil1 c. pecans or walnuts (optional, but I bet these would be good with a bit of crunch)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, agave, and grape seed oil together.4. Mix with dry ingredients and add pecans.5. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Substitution Notes:You
can sub the almond flour for any other nut flour (i.e. pecan, walnut,
hazelnut, etc.). The eggs can be replaced by flax or chia eggs, which
ever you prefer and the grape seed oil by any other kind of oil. I
cannot vouch for any of these substitutions solely because of the fact I
haven't tried them. If you happen too, let me know in the comments if
it worked.

Inquiry of the Day:

What are you're favorite spices and/or herbs?

Personally,
I like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cilantro, basil, rosemary, and mint. I
especially love rosemary on roasted/grilled vegetables or potatoes. In
fact, if you ever make this recipe, sprinkle about 1 1/2 tsp. of fresh minced rosemary on them. It's absolutely delicious!

All of these spices have a very distinct flavor which I adore in
muffins, breads, pies, ice cream, entrees, or even side dishes. Let me
know you're favorite spices/herbs in the comments box and what you would
like to seem them in.

All for $2.68 at Goodwill. Can you believe it? Four pieces of glass dishware for $2.68! That's an awesome deal. Epic even.

Today was 50% off the entire store. We couldn't have gone to Goodwill on a better day.

The
thing I love about Goodwill is that the stuff there is ridiculously low
priced anyways, then they go and make everything 50%! Amazing! And I
almost always find everything I need at Goodwill. Like, I bought a
bride's maid's dress there for $6!!!! Again, amazing!

That's right, strip it right down to the bone. I wanna get to the core, so I can completely and thoroughly evaluate my novel.

I
came to this conclusion one day while I was writing. I had gotten to an
intense action scene and suddenly, I stopped. I asked my self, What does my story really mean? What am I trying to convey to readers? What is the plot?. It was then I realized
that it had no plot. People who read it would finish the book not
knowing anything they didn't know before they read it.

My goal, when I write, is to make people stop and think. What if?
The way I think of writing is kind of like science. Scientists ask
"what if?" questions all the time, so do writers. Except when we ask
"what if?" questions we can be move creative about the answer. Of
course, most works of fiction are rooted in fact, but they're also
called fiction. Hence, mostly make-believe. This is why I enjoy writing
more, because the imagination is unlimited.

So I began to
devise a new plot, one that made more of an impact. My problem was that I
had had so many plots going on at once I just couldn't focus on the
center, or root, of the story. Now that I've completely designed a new
story, my characters, setting, and minor details have all seemed more
relevant and they fit better into the story.

My new
plot will make people think, because I've asked a big question (and
yes, it is a what if question). When I thought of it, it made me
comprehend how hard it would be to live without. This I think, will hook readers more so than the old story.

And because I've constructed a new plot, I've grown more excited about writing everyday. I've
become more connected to the characters, made things seem more
realistic by adding something here and taking another thing out there. I
hope that when I finish the novel, readers will be able to connect a
lot more with the story and be able to get something out of it, no
matter how small.

Inquiry of the Day:

Have you ever stripped a story before?

Some people might seem horrified at the idea. All that writing and I'm just going to disembowel it! You must be joking! But
it actually helps to find why you wrote what you did. If you're
struggling with you're story (if you write, that is) try adding and
subtracting some things, add new characters, change the plot, do
something drastic. You might find that the story is a whole lot better
then before you tore it down. Worst case scenario, you add everything
back in and continue with you're previous story if things don't go
right.

(Tip: when you make changes, always save the original version, just in case.)

So today I tried to make pita bread using this recipe, except I replaced the eggs with flax eggs.

I didn't work.

I failed miserably.

The
pita bread wasn't at all like pita bread. That doesn't mean it tasted
bad, though! It smelled, looked, and tasted good all the same. I bet if
you tried to make this with regular eggs it would work better, because
it would make the bread more fluffy. Well, lesson learned, I guess. Do
NOT make pita bread with flax eggs.

You're probably wondering
why I titled this recipe "Peeta" Bread. Well, it's because The Hunger
Games DVD comes out in 22 days! I'm super excited! As soon as I get the
DVD I shall watch it over............ and over.................... and
over............................... and over...............etc. I
loved that movie (if you can't already tell).

1. Mix eggs, water, and oil together.2. Combine with the dry ingredients. 3. Divide into 4 equal portions on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread evenly.4. Bake at 350 degrees F. For 18-20 minutes.5. Let cool, then cut in half and use a serrated knife to slice down the center to create a "pocket".6. Stuff with peanut butter, jelly, hummus and veggies, or just eat plain!

Inquiry of the Day:

Did you like The Hunger Games movie or book better?

Personally, I almost liked the book better,
because it had more of Peeta and Katniss together. I'm glad the movie
got rid of all the gruesome parts (especially Cato's demise *shiver*).
I'm really excited for Catching Fire,
but, unfortunately the movie won't come out until November 23, 2013. I
also hope they pick a really good person to play Finnick, because he was
one of my favorite characters.

This recipe is inspired by Lucy Rosset's Lemon Yogurt Muffins. If you're interested in buying her cookbook you can by it here. The recipe sounded really good, but it had lots of dairy in it.

I was disappointed, but determined to make them vegan so I could eat a lemon muffin. I'm so glad I tried!

These
muffins are moist, lemony, and 100% delicious! I'm probably not doing
the muffins justice. I just can't think of a word to describe how
incredibly yummy they are.

It was actually pretty
easy to make the recipe vegan. In my opinion, it's easier to get rid of
animal products in a recipe rather than gluten. Gluten free flours have
to be combined to be subbed 1 on 1 for wheat flour. But there are many
substitutes for eggs and other animal products that are relatively
simple.

With that said, these take about 10 minutes
to whip together and if you're too impatient to wait the half hour for
them to come out of the oven, you can eat the batter!

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.2. In a bowl, combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda.3. In a separate bowl, mix flax eggs, honey, and lemon juice.4. Combine wet and dry mixtures. Add the non-dairy yogurt. Stir until thoroughly mixed.5. Stir in the lemon rind.6. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.7. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

How to Make Flax "Eggs":
The ratio for a flax egg is 1:3. That means 1 T. flaxseed meal added to
3 T. of water is the equivalent of one large egg. So, to make a flax
egg you need a blender, flaxseed meal and water. Blend the flaxseed meal
with water until is makes a gooey mixture. Using this ratio, you can
make as many flax eggs as you need.

Substitution Notes:
The flax eggs can be replaced by real eggs, of course. The nondairy
yogurt by regular plain yogurt and the grape seed oil by butter or any
other oil. Maybe, instead of using lemon, use orange rind and fresh
juice. I can't vouch for the results so if you try it, let me know if it works.

Inquiry of the Day:

What's your favorite muffin? Do you make them or are they from a bakery?

I
love pumpkin muffins, especially the pumpkin muffies from Panera.
Delish! But I also like chocolate, blueberry, banana with chocolate
chips, and pretty much another kind of muffin you can think of. Except
for strawberry muffins. I hate strawberries. Not so much their taste,
just their texture.

Imagine
hardly ever getting hungry, feeling full all the time, nauseous,
abdominal pain like knives stabbing you. It's hard to live a normal life
when you're being plagued with these things.

I try
really hard to ignore it. I try to be up beat and pretend like I have
lots of energy but I don't. Mentally and physically, I'm exhausted.
Being sick for almost a year can really take a toll on you. There were
times when living didn't seem worth it. At all. I almost gave up once.

But then I thought, How
selfish of me is that? My friends and family would never forgive me if I
just went and died on them. How awful would that be for them? They care
about me and my well being, so why would I give up after what they've
done for me?

That was a scary day. But
eventually I pulled myself from the valley and started making the
strenuous climb to the top of the mountain. I made it to the top, now
its a matter of getting over that hump and starting again. Fresh and
renewed this time.

My climb down the mountain has
been considerably easier than the climb up. I'm almost there, though.
Even if I'm not 100% better, I know I'll get there soon.

My
journey has taught me that sometimes life's gonna knock you down. But
it's up to you to get back on your feet and change the direction you
were walking in. No matter how long it takes for things to get better,
they always do. It may be in their own time, but things will turn
around.

And the most important life lesson I've gathered is to never give up hope. Never.

So
if you're struggling with something now, remember, they're people who
love and care about you. And they'll do anything and everything in their
power to help you until you make a full recovery and can stand back on
your feet.

P.S. Sorry for such
a dreary post, I just needed to get that out of my system. Tomorrow, I
promise, will be happier. I mean, what could be happier than a new
recipe? A new muffin recipe at that! :)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

All I have to say about this pizza is- om nom nom. It's sooooo delicious! You have no idea how happy I was when I finally got to sink my teeth into the first bite. I could've cried. I don't remember the last time I had pizza. It was at least last November or October.

Oh my goodness, how sad is that?!

We used to have pizza at least once a week at my house. For awhile we loved Pizza King, but then I got sick the night we had it and I didn't like it anymore, then it was Donato's (still love them, but they're kinda expensive), and for a few months or so it's been Pizza Hut. I think Pizza Hut is my favorite pizza place, but the Mellow Mushroom has some pretty darn good gluten-free crust. You should check them out.

Anywho, you must try this pizza. I guarantee you have almost all the ingredients on hand. And it doesn't even have any fancy shmancy vegan cheese on it! In fact, you don't even miss the cheese! I know, i just blew your mind. Right?

Originally, I was gonna post this recipe tomorrow. But they were so good I just couldn't wait!

Think of peanut butter and jelly in the form of a soft, delicious cookie. Yum, right? I'm seriously addicted to these. A-D-D-I-C-T-E-D!I had to stop myself from eating more than just one, because I was so full already.

I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe, because it only makes 9. That is not enough to feed my obsession. Not near enough!

You have to try these. You just have to. Your life will never be the same when you do.

1.
Blend dates, coconut butter, and salt in food processor (I haven't
tried this in the blender so I don't know how well it would work, but if
you try it, let me know the results!)
2. Add almond butter and vanilla. Pulse until thoroughly combined.
3. Form mixture into 1" balls and place on a paper plate. Make a thumbprint in the middle of the cookie.
4. Freeze for 15-20 minutes.
5. When cookies are firm, place grape jelly in the thumbprint on the cookie.
6. Freeze again until firm.
7. Eat until all gone!!! (No need to share, unless your mom tells you to. Then you have to.)or
To make these completely raw, blend in dried cherries or raisins during stop 2. Freeze until firm.

Substitution Notes: You
can replace the dates with prunes, raisins or any other dried fruit. I
just vouch for the results since I've only tried dates. Coconut butter
can be found at most health food
stores, but be warned. It's very expensive ($12 a jar). So go here to
find out how to make you're own. I suppose it can be replaced with more
almond butter or maybe you can try omitting it completely. If you do,
let me know how it works. The almond butter can be substituted for any
nut or seed butter and the jelly for any kind of jelly or preserve. I
used grape jelly and cherry preserves for mine. Please share in the
comments if you try any of these! I'd like to know how they turn out!

Inquiry of the Day:

Do you like peanut butter and jelly? If not what kind of sandwich do you like?

When I was in elementary school,
I would bring a PB&J for lunch almost everyday. I never got tired
of it. It doesn't smell like tuna, or got slimy like ham, it stays
perfect. Unless you put too much jelly on and it leaks through the
bread. My sandwiches looked like zombie PB&Js' when that happened.

The hardest part about writing a book is making believable characters.
Some people might tell you that writing a good plot is hard or a
realistic setting. But, truthfully, that's not hard at all (in my
opinion).

Settings are like seeds. They grow and blossom in
your mind until they're fully matured. They grow until all the details
in your world are in place. Everything is important: towns, cities,
stores, physical features, landmarks, etc. They all help to improve your
make-believe world. And there is always something you can do to make
your setting see more whole.

Plots are a little
harder. It always a challenge to come up with an original story line,
something that's never been done before. The best part about plots,
though, is that there are an infinite number of them. You might have to
push a little deeper or peel back more layers of imagination, but,
eventually, you'll come up with a completely unique story that no one's
ever heard of or written, for that matter.

But
characters are hard. You can every physical feature there is about a
character, but we still wouldn't know anything about him/her. That
character wouldn't have depth, nothing to make them seem real. For example, I could write-
Character name: Elaina
Gender: Female Age: 12 Hometown: Greenfield, Indiana
Characteristics: brown and straight hair, brown eyes, slightly overweight, short

and you still wouldn't know any thing about said character.

But
if I wrote about Elaina's quirks, her hears, how she accepts herself
and life, relationship with her family, etc. you'd have a pretty clear
picture of who she really is.

With that said, your
character is still not crystal clear. Now we have to make her human. How
does Elaina react to obstacles you, the writer, place in her way? Does
she give up or does she persist til she gets what she wants. Making a
character's path easy makes them seem less human. If they don't feel
anything, reader's can't connect to her. No matter how many physical
battles your protagonist faces, if they don't fight emotional battles,
no one will truly understand your character.

Goals
also help to shape characters. Humans have goals. Without them, we are
basically nothing. Most people have something they strive towards.
Something they put all their time and energy into until they're
successful. Characters also must have goals.

Which is why I struggle so much with writing realistic characters!

GRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to make my protagonist real enough. She just seems so fake!!!! >:(

How do I show, in my writing, who she truly is? Without saying so directly? I mean, I can't exactly explain who she really is. People just have to know. But
people don't. Which makes things doubly hard. How do I convey to
readers who my main character is? What more do I need to add? Will my
audience understand her better later in the book?

I don't know.

So, for now, I'll just write what I can and worry about my characters later.

Note: I am in no way an expert, so please do not get mad if what I advise doesn't work.

These muffins are yummy. Especially with brown sugar on the top. But if
your body doesn't handle sugar very well, don't worry, I have an
excellent cinnamon topping recipe.

I got the idea for a cinnamon
apple muffin when I was thinking of different types of muffins. One
that specifically popped into my head were the cinnamon apple muffins
from Perkins. They were absolutely delicious. Full of apples, cinnamon,
rich brown sugar topping. Yum. However, they were full of gluten,
sugar, and other bad things, I'm sure. So, I decided to get creative
and make my own cinnamon apple muffins. They're just as good, if not,
somewhat better.

I used the basis of all my muffin recipes to
make these. So if you have any other good muffin or breakfast
suggestions just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

I'm just the messenger in this post. If you want the original recipe head on over to Chocolate Covered Katie's blog. I'll just tell you what I put in mine.

As
summer approaches, the one food that I've been craving for awhile now
is ice cream. Smooth, creamy, rich, delicious ice cream. But dairy-free
store bought ice cream is so darn expensive and they add a bunch of
unnecessary gums.

CCK has a lot of ice cream recipes
that can be made with the Vita-Mix, but the ice cream always turns into
soup (at least, the way I made it did). So I gave up for a bit and just
backed off ice cream. That was a very sad time in my life.

Finally, after many days of begging Mom bought an ice cream maker. It is the best investment we've ever made.

The
Cuisinart ice cream maker is my new best friend, my new baby, nothing
can separate us. So to test my baby, I pulled up CCK's recipes and tried
it. The recipe I used is as follows and I highly recommend it.

1. Mix all ingredients together except for add-ins.2. Follow instructions for ice cream maker. Mine took about 15 minutes to make. 3. During the last 5 minutes, add extra ingredients.

This
ice cream melts easily and would probably be better if frozen for a few
hours. It still is delicious fresh from your ice cream maker, though.
And besides, who has time to wait for heavenly ice cream when you can
have it straight from the maker?